Thanks for the replies, very interesting. Someone forwarded me this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6qRnTVM2KU
The bowyer applies the bark at around 2:00. Seems he boils it and applies it in strips using (fish?) glue. I wonder if the best method would be applying it with fish glue, which is water soluble, after the bark is softened, and then spraying the bark with some kind of water-proof sealant, like the stuff used by art students to seal a charcoal or pencil sketch?
Someone also suggested applying the birch bark in a very thin single layer, and then adding one more thin layer on top.
"I've been thinking about and researching it because I want to overhaul my bow too. Replace the old cracked birch, redo the bindings (from monofilament to something more natural), grip and the leather wraps on the nocks etc"
I was thinking of doing the same thing, replacing the bindings with some strong nylon thread. Any good tutorials for this? Will it be strong enough (as strong as the monofilament used on the SMG)? I've seen some bows with much longer bindings (sometimes it seems like they've wrapped thread over half of the bow), wouldn't this have an impact on the flexibility of the bow?